http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6605062.ece
As the post-election crisis in Iran enters its third week, one thing is clear: the oxymoron that was the Islamic Republic is already dead.
If the radical faction led by Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, wins the power struggle, Iran will drop its "republican" pretensions to become an Islamic emirate or an imamate. But if the opposition wins, the theocratic aspect of the regime will end, allowing Iran to become a normal republic in which power belongs to the people.
For 30 years, Iran has suffered from a split personality: trying to remain faithful to the late Ayatollah Khomeini's ersatz version of Islam while pretending to have a people-based system of government.
The moment of truth for the death of the Islamic Republic came when Ayatollah Khamenei broke with tradition and declared Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the victor in the election even before the polls had closed. Over the past two weeks he has ignored demands for a rerun of the controversial election or even a complete recount of the votes, insisting that Mr Ahmadinejad is President not because the people elected him but because the Supreme Leader says so.
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